Myanmar security forces deployed armored vehicles in major cities on Monday, two weeks after the army toppled the elected government and detained its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking the largest protests in more than a decade.
Suu Kyi’s arrest on charges of illegally importing six walkie-talkie radios will expire on Monday. His lawyer, Khin Maung Zaw, could not be reached for comment on what was planned to happen. The internet was turned on Monday morning after an overnight suspension.
Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets across the country in the last nine days to denounce the February 1 coup, which derailed the Southeast Asian country’s tentative transition to democracy, and to call for the release of Suu Kyi. . The unrest has revived memories of bloody outbreaks of opposition to nearly half a century of direct army rule, which ended when the military began a process of retreating from civilian politics in 2011.
On Sunday, police opened fire to disperse protesters at a power plant in northern Myanmar, but violence in protests this month has been limited. In addition to demonstrations across the country, the military rulers face a strike by government workers, part of a civil disobedience movement that is paralyzing many of the government’s functions. The soldiers were sent to power plants in the northern state of Kachin, sparking a clash with protesters, some of whom said they believed the army intended to cut electricity. Security forces fired to disperse the protesters outside a plant in the state capital, Myitkyina, images broadcast live on Facebook showed, although it was unclear whether they were using rubber bullets or live fire.
On Sunday night, armored vehicles appeared in Yangon’s commercial capital Myitkyina and Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state, the first large-scale launch of such vehicles across the country since the coup. On Monday, more than a dozen police trucks with four water cannon vehicles were deployed near Sule Pagoda in central Yangon, which has been one of the main sites of protests in the commercial capital, as small groups of protesters began to gather outside the central bank and the Chinese embassy.
The government and military could not be reached for comment.
An armored personnel carrier is deployed in front of the Central Bank building in Yangon, Myanmar, Monday, Feb. 15, 2021 (Photo: AP).
Shortly after midnight, residents reported an internet outage. All four telecommunications networks were inaccessible from about 1 a.m.Monday (1830 GMT) until about 9 a.m., when connections were restored. In the first days after the coup, the Internet was cut off across the country. The military has been carrying out nightly arrests and on Saturday it was granted broad powers to detain people and search private property. On Sunday, he published amendments to the penal code aimed at stifling dissent. “It is as if the generals have declared war on the people,” UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews said on Twitter.
“Night raids; mounting arrests; more rights stripped; another internet shutdown; military convoys entering the communities. These are signs of despair. Attention, generals: YOU WILL BE responsible ”. Western embassies, of the European Union, Great Britain, Canada and 11 other nations, issued a statement late Sunday calling on security forces to “refrain from violence against protesters and civilians who are protesting the overthrow of their legitimate government. “
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
The amendments to the penal code establish a prison sentence of 20 years for inciting hatred of the government or the army or for obstructing the security forces dedicated to preserving the stability of the state.
Stopping the security forces from carrying out their duties is punishable by seven years in prison, while spreading fear, fake news or agitating against government employees gets three, according to amendments posted on a military website.
In the latest sign of disruption by workers, the Civil Aviation Department said in a statement that many staff members had stopped going to work since February 8, causing delays to international flights.
One pilot, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation, said hundreds of department employees were on strike.
A large image that has an X mark on the face of Commander-in-Chief, Major General Min Aung Hlaing, also chairman of the State Administrative Council, stands on a road as anti-coup protesters gather in front of the Hledan Center in Yangon, Myanmar. , on Sunday. , February 14, 2021 (Photo: AP)
Some trains also stopped running after staff refused to go to work, national media reported.
The board has ordered officials to go back to work, threatening to take action.
Richard Horsey, a Myanmar-based analyst with the International Crisis Group, said that the work of many government departments had effectively stopped.
“This has the potential to affect vital functions as well: the military can replace engineers and doctors, but not power grid controllers or central bankers,” he said.
At least 400 people have been detained since the coup, said the monitoring group Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners.
Suu Kyi, 75, won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for campaigning for democracy and spent nearly 15 years under house arrest.
His party won an election in 2015 and another on November 8, but the military said the vote was marred by fraud. The electoral commission dismissed those accusations.
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She is a freelance blogger, writer, and speaker, and writes for various entertainment magazines.